Users and Groups

Windows has local and domain users and groups. Local users and groups can be used on a given system while domain users and groups can be used across all the systems in a domain. Users and groups possess a security identifier (SID) to identify them. There are special accounts on Windows like the administrator account, the guest account, and the machine account. There are several local groups on a system, and membership in these groups gives the user special privileges and rights. There are several domain groups, and membership in these domain groups provide the user with rights and privileges in the broader domain. Many domain groups have the same name as local groups, but behave differently.